JOE Biden smashed his own monthly fundraising record by taking in US$383 million (RM1.58 billion) in September for his presidential campaign, thanks mainly to a flood of donations after his first debate with President Donald Trump.

Trump lagged far behind last month with US$248 million.

Besides the debate, a chaotic clash in which Trump constantly spoke over and interrupted Biden, Democrats were also moved to dig deep into their pockets because of the death of progressive Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Democratic candidate Biden leads Trump nationally by double digits in the frenzied homestretch to the November 3 election.

Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said Wednesday the US$383 million figure was a record and included US$203 million raised from online donors.

The campaign now has US$432 million to spend on getting Biden elected, it said.

The Trump campaign released its US$248 million figure Thursday night.

Despite the financial advantage, O’Malley Dillon said: “We think this race is far closer than folks on (Twitter) think.”

After Ginsburg died on September 18, small donors enraged by the idea that she could be replaced by a conservative nominated by Trump donated more than US$100 million in one weekend to ActBlue, a platform that raises money for Democratic candidates at the presidential, congressional and local level.

Biden had already set a fundraising record with US$364.5 million in August.

His figures are far higher than the record set by Barack Obama with nearly US$200 million in September 2008. – AFP, October 17, 2020.